Programme Associate (SO2, Sustainable Results)

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian Agency, fighting hunger worldwide. WFP has been working in Afghanistan since 1963. WFP food assistance aims to help the most vulnerable, food insecure Afghans, including women and children, as well as families affected by conflict and natural disasters. In 2017, WFP fed over 2.8 million vulnerable Afghans  through various programme activities such as general distributions (food, and/or cash and voucher as the transfer modality); nutrition programmes, through targeted supplementary feeding; school take-home rations; food for assets creation, Purchase for Progress (P4P), training and capacity development activities.  For more information, see wfp.org

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Strategically situated between Central and South Asia, with a committed government, rich natural resources, and a young and diverse population, Afghanistan has the potential to make significant progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Over the past 15 years, it has demonstrated the ability to deliver improvements in key areas such as school enrolment and life expectancy. However, a complex and protracted conflict, combined with other challenges including climate change and natural disasters, demographic shifts, limited job opportunities, pervasive gender inequalities, and transparency concerns, has dramatically constrained the country’s wider development efforts.

As a result, Afghanistan currently ranks 169 out of 188 countries in the Human Development Index. It has low levels of economic growth, unemployment rates exceed 19 percent (13.9 percent for men, 36.4 percent for women)[1], and almost 54 percent of the population lives below the global poverty line.

Recently WFP Afghanistan prepared a 4 year Country Strategic Plan (CSP) that was developed through a series of internal and external consultations and with a focus on identifying how to help the country achieve the SDG 2 target on improving food access. WFP’s Strategic Outcome 2 focuses on helping vulnerable people in Afghanistan to meet their own food and nutrition needs by 2022 while WFP’s Strategic Outcome 4 focuses helping people across the country to access a wide range of locally produced fortified nutritious food products at affordable prices.

Many vulnerable people struggle to meet their food and nutrition needs even after emergencies are over, especially if they have been displaced. Others face chronic challenges. It is therefore critical to complement the efforts to ensure access to food and nutrition during and immediately after emergencies (SO1) with support to help populations become increasingly self-reliant, in order to achieve the access target of SDG 2. Self-reliance efforts require several years of support to have a meaningful impact, but discernible progress should be made by the end of the CSP.

This outcome will be achieved through the following output:

• Vulnerable people benefit from nutrition-sensitive livelihood support in order to enhance self-reliance, reduce disaster risk and adapt to climate change, create employment in urban and rural areas, and support stability.

In order to achieve the SDG 2 targets on ensuring access and ending malnutrition, Afghanistan needs food systems that are resilient to conflict, climate change, and other challenges, and that can consistently allow people across the country to avail fortified nutritious food products at affordable prices. Since there are existing functioning food systems in the country that can be strengthened, based on commercial principles, WFP will support several nutrition-sensitive value chains to produce local nutritious products.

This outcome will be achieved through the following outputs:

• Vulnerable people benefit from the availability of locally-produced fortified nutritious food products in order to address their food and nutrition needs

Vulnerable people in targeted areas benefit from improved government nutritional value chains involving the Strategic Grain Reserve in order to address their food and nutrition needs and support stability (SDG 16)

JOB PURPOSE

With the above mentioned organizational context in mind, WFP Afghanistan is seeking to hire a Programme Assistant in the Faizabad Sub-Office for Sustainable Results and Food Systems to be responsible for supporting the activities under SO 2 and SO4.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

The SO 2/SO 4 Programme Assistant will be based in the Faizabad Sub-Office, reporting to the head of Field Office.  He/she will provide operational and administrative support to all activities under SO2 including WFP’s activities to build resilience, support livelihoods and reduce disaster risks through large scale asset creation projects as well as vocational skills and other training activities to create employment.  For SO 4 activities, the Programme Assistant will be guided by the SO 4 Outcome Manager in the WFP Country Office.

The Programme Assistant will also be expected to travel to field as necessary to meet with Government, communities or business partners (SO 4).

Main activities are highlighted below

• Provide support to the SO 2 Outcome Manager in Faizabad SO for all related planning, implementation and monitoring activities.
• Actively contribute for development of SO -4 (nutrition value chain development) and SO -2 (Food for training Food & VST-CBT) component of implementation plan for the Faizabad Sub-Office and provide necessary technical input and support to the SO 4 Outcome Manager in the Country Office.  
• Responsible for preparation of Food for training VST-CBT field level agreements (FLAs) with cooperating partners.
• Develop and strengthen required capacity of relevant CPs’ staff, government staff, WFP staff and PAT monitors, through conducting training needs assessment followed by relevant trainings, on the job instructions and other initiatives. Provide required inputs to SO-4 Outcome Manager in CO for donor proposal development in coordination with Head of Sub-Office;
• Assist in identification, development and management of potential partnerships for joint programming implementation and strengthen existing partnerships with concerned UN agencies, private sector, national & international NGOs, government key counterparts and communities;
• Support development of comprehensive monitoring plan for all SO 4 and SO 2 VST –food & CBT activities at field office level including the relevant partners and ensure use of appropriate monitoring tools/checklists by all parties;
• Conduct monitoring/supervision visits to SO 4 and SO 2 VST –Food & CBT Programme sites;

• Any other duty as required

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Knowledge of WFP programmes and policies, nutrition and food security and humanitarian response.
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Field experience in Afghanistan

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: University degree in agriculture, engineering or project management, or a related field.

Experience:

• Work experience in programme implementation, especially in resilience and recovery areas, including asset creation.
• Experience working with the private sector, especially in food systems development.
• Experience working with UN or NGOs in Afghanistan.

Language: Fluency (level C) in English language and in Dari and/or Pashto.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Position Title: Programme Assistant (Sustainable Results and Food System)

Grade: General Service- Level 5  (L5)

Contract: Service Contract (SC) - One-year renewable

Duty Station/travel: Faizabad Field Office, Afghanistan with travel inside Afghanistan

Salary: Starting at USD 15,852.00 net per annum 

Medical Plan: International valid medical plan valid also for staff, spouse and dependents children under 18 years

Annual leave: 24 working days per annum

WFP Work Envirionment

WFP is committed to ensuring that all its workplaces are free from abuse, offensive behaviour, harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. WFP is also committed to promoting a work culture in which every employee understands, and is able to carry out, his/her personal responsibilities for maintaining the dignity of work colleagues. WFP seeks to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. We believe our mission of fighting global hunger worldwide can only be achieved if women, men, girls and boys are offered equal opportunities in terms of access to resources and services and participation in decision making roles.

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Wednesday, 23 January 2019